Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Ministry at Yumba

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ministry at Yumba

Being in Yumba Special School I have seen and experienced a lot. Mentally challenged people need somebody to listen to them, understand them and to love them since people consider them to be of no use in the society.

Taking them in moral education and practical issues like putting clothes and taking care of their body is something that I have really enjoyed. The challenge at Yumba is not about producing good results at the end of the day (since it can take10 to 15 minutes of concentration to perform a simple task), but it is to make the children feel welcomed and help them believe they can things like any other child.

The biggest challenge is that I will never come to understand their feelings. I can't say if they are happy or sad at times. Despite their physical condition like having running noses, sliver in the mouth or even small incidents of violence here and there, I have come to learn that I have to be patient not only with them but also to myself.

I have come to acknowledge their presence and the presence of God in them despite the questions I ask my self about their situation and why it is that they suffer. As Mother Teresa once said “let nothing so sorrowful fill you heart and forget Christ is risen for you.” I am happy to be in Yumba and share my brotherly love to those denied the right to love and associate with others fully in the society. We need to love and appreciate their presence in the community since we all share the same love and image of God.
CONSTANTINE SUNDAY

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What do we want this novitiate to be?

There is a saying that goes something like this: “If we don’t do what we believe in, then we’ll end up believing in what we do”. Without a vision that is authentic and alive to guide our actions, then we can settle for rationalizing the status quo or what is convenient and comfortable.
One of the first things the new team in Tamale did was to spend time beginning to articulate its vision of a novitiate beyond the basics laid down in our Constitutions. Here are some elements of what we came up with:
Novitiate is a journey, a process that involves KNOWING, EXPERIENCING and CHOOSING.
It is an INITIATION into Christian Brother religious life, so a “rite of passage” into a new identity, a time of learning and testing.
Novitiate confronts the novices with the Brother’s vocation as a call to brotherly solidarity and community, not to privilege, status and security.
It involves exploration of the basic values of faith and vocation, and the challenge to embrace these out of personal conviction and free choice.
Novitiate means understanding that a religious vocation makes a claim on the whole of the person and his life, including his inner life, his relationships and his professional activity (ministry). Furthermore, it challenges the novice to see the dynamic inter-relationship of these areas and to learn what their integration means.
Novitiate is a time of DISCERNMENT. The novice learns more deeply who he is, and what this Christian Brother life is. There is a constant back-and-forth movement between these two poles as an answer is sought to the question, “Is this where I am meant to be? Is this the life that will enable me to find my true self in God?”